Cher Lloyd
Cher Lloyd (born 28 July 1993) is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and model. Lloyd rose to fame in 2010 when she finished fourth in the seventh series of The X Factor. FOLLOWING THE seventh series finale, Lloyd was signed to Syco Music. Lloyd's debut single, "Swagger Jagger," was released in July 2011. The single entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart and number two in the Republic of Ireland. Her second single, "With Ur Love," was released on 31 October 2011, featuring Mike Posner, and peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart, and number five in Ireland, preceding her debut album, Sticks and Stones (2011), which peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart and number seven in Ireland. Lloyd released her second album, Sorry I'm Late in 2014. Despite its positive acclaim, the album failed to match the success of its predecessor, peaking at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart. Lloyd also experienced crossover appeal, signing to US record label Epic Records in 2012. Early life Cher Lloyd was raised in Malvern, Worcestershire, with her parents Darren and Diane and her three younger siblings, Sophie, Josh, and Rosie. Her family is of Romani (Gypsy) origin, and Cher spent the first year of her life travelling around Wales with her young parents in a caravan. She was teased and bullied by classmates for her origins, and called "pikey" or "gypo" at school. Lloyd attended Dyson Perrins High School, where she studied performing arts.She also attended the theatre arts school Stagecoach. Career 2010–11: The X Factor Lloyd had previously auditioned for The X Factor before (when the minimum age was lower), singing ballads, but did not make it through. Lloyd has previously performed at holiday camps and said she gets a mixed reaction to her music, but was a big hit with X Factor judges at the time. She auditioned singing the Keri Hilson version of "Turn My Swag On" by Soulja Boy. At bootcamp she sang a rap version of "Viva La Vida." At the judges' houses, she performed "Cooler Than Me" but suffered from tonsillitis and was unable to complete the song. Lloyd sang a rendition of "Just Be Good to Me" in the first of the live shows. In the second live show, she sang "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)." In the third live show, she sang a mashup of "No Diggity" and "Shout," and in the fourth live show, she sang "Stay." This was the first time Lloyd did not rap in her performance, and Cowell even called it "the performance of the series." In week five, Lloyd sang "Empire State of Mind," but judges stated that after the previous week they were disappointed. However, the judges agreed that she REDEEMED herself with her rendition of "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" mixed with "Mockingbird," by Elton John and Eminem, respectively, in week 6. In the seventh week, Lloyd was in the bottom two for the first time after her rendition of "Imagine", but Cowell, Cole and Walsh all saved her in the final showdown, resulting in Paije Richardson being eliminated. In the following week, Lloyd performed "Girlfriend," followed by "Walk This Way." Both performances were credited by the judges, and she was saved by the public vote the following night, SECURING her position in the semifinal. In the semi-final, Lloyd performed "Nothin' on You" and "Love the Way You Lie" and was in the bottom two with Mary Byrne. She was saved by the judges again and put through to the final, even though voting statistics after the show revealed that Lloyd had the fewest votes. In the final, she performed a mashup of "The Clapping Song" and "Get Ur Freak On," followed by a duet with will.i.am, which was a mashup of "Where Is the Love?" and "I Gotta Feeling." Lloyd was then eliminated in fourth place, having received the fewest public votes. After the final, it was announced that Lloyd had been signed by Syco Music. Lloyd and nine other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour from February 2011 to April 2011. The tour saw Lloyd performing for 500,000 people throughout the UK. 2011–12: Sticks and Stones After the final of the seventh series of The X Factor, it was announced that Lloyd had been signed by Syco Music. After signing with Syco Music, Lloyd confirmed reports that recording had begun for her debut studio album with songwriter Autumn Rowe, and producers RedOne, Johnny Powers and The Runners. On 28 July 2011, Lloyd previewed five tracks from the album during a UStream session, including tracks featuring Busta Rhymes, Mike Posner, Ghetts, Mic Righteous and Dot Rotten.[ Her debut studio album, Sticks + Stones, was released 4 November 2011, with the album debuting at number seven in Ireland. In the United Kingdom, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number four, behind new releases of Susan Boyle, Florence and the Machine and Michael Bublé. The album sold 55,668 copies in its opening week. As of September 2013, the album is certified gold by the BPI for shipments of 100,000 copies. The lead single off the album, "Swagger Jagger," debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, with sales exceeding 200,000 copies in Britain. In the Republic of Ireland, the single charted at number two on the Irish Singles Chart. The single debuted at number 79 on the Mega Top 100 in the Netherlands. After a performance during the finals of So You Think You Can Dance, the song re-entered the chart at number 60. The second single, "With Ur Love," featuring American singer Mike Posner, debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number four with first-week sales of 74,030 copies. The song sold more than the first single, "Swagger Jagger," when it debuted at number one in August 2011, selling 66,316 copies. "With Ur Love" also marks the highest-selling number-four single since Rihanna's "Only Girl (In the World)," which sold 74,248 copies in October 2010. The third single, "Want U Back," peaking at number 26 during its third charting week, rose 30 places to number 26 with sales of 9,730. Also appearing on many U.S. charts include peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart,number 9 on Billboard Pop Songs, number 5 on Digital Songs, Hot 100 Airplay chart peaking at number 39 and number 23 on Adult Pop Songs. It also debuted at number 95 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart and has since peaked at number 11. As of February 2013, the track has sold over 2,000,000 copies in the U.S., and almost 3,000,000 copies worldwide. The fourth single, "Oath" featuring American rapper Becky G peaking at number 73 in the US Billboard Hot 100. In New Zealand, following the major success of "Want U Back," which reached number 3, "Oath" made a respectable impact, peaking at number 13, becoming Lloyd's third consecutive Top 20 hit in that country. In November 2011, Lloyd announced her debut headlining UK tour, the Sticks and Stones Tour, which took place in March and April 2012. On 13 December, a music video for "Dub on the Track," featuring underground artists Mic Righteous, Dot Rotten and Ghetts, who also all appear in the accompanying video, premiered on SBTV.The song will not serve as the third single. In December 2011, two more dates were added due to popular demand for tickets. In October 2011, Lloyd signed to Logan Media Entertainment under the management of Craig Logan, John Black and Christie LaRocque. In December 2011, Lloyd signed a record deal with L.A. Reid to Epic Records in the United States; "Want U Back" was confirmed. 2013–present: Sorry I'm Late Months after the release of Sticks + Stones, Lloyd confirmed reports that recording had begun for her second studio album, with new songwriters and producers such as Beth Ditto and Tove Lo.In October 2012, Lloyd supported American band Hot Chelle Rae on the Australian leg of their Whatever World Tour. In November 2013, during an interview with Larry King, Lloyd confirmed that she had left Syco Music after she and Cowell disagreed about her career path in music. Lloyd also confirmed that the album, which was originally due for release in November, was pushed back until early 2014, despite the record being done. Lloyd announced that her I Wish Tour would take place in the fall of 2013 and would also feature girl group Fifth Harmony. In January 2013, Lloyd announced that she would guest-star on Big Time Rush. In May 2014, Lloyd was featured in Demi Lovato's self-titled fourth album in the song "Really Don't Care," which peaked at number one on the U.S. Dance chart and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 98 before rising to peak position number 26. In April 2013, Lloyd announced she and Ne-Yo were to collaborate on a new Fruttare song, "It's All Good," which premiered in June of that year. The second studio album, Sorry I'm Late, was released on 23 May 2014, and peaked on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart at number 12. The album peaked at number 58 on the Irish Albums Chart, while it debuted at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart. The lead single of Sorry I'm Late, "I Wish," featuring American rapper T.I., debuted within the U.S. on Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles at number 17. It also charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 40 and on New Zealand at number 16. The second single, "Sirens," peaked on the U.S. Billboard Pop Digital Songs chart at number 48. Also the song charted on the UK Singles Chart at number 41. Following the release of Sorry I'm Late, Lloyd was removed from Epic's website, leading to the suspicion she had been dropped by the label. In November 2014, it was revealed that Lloyd had signed a new deal with Universal Music Group and was working on her third studio album. Personal life Relationships In January 2012, Lloyd announced her engagement to her boyfriend of less than a year, Craig Monk.The couple were married in a secret ceremony on 18 November 2013. Tattoos Lloyd has several different types of tattoos, expressing different emotions, such as an eye on her inner forearm. I have many of them now. I really cannot stand some people when they say to me, "Oh it's going to look horrible when you're 60." Who cares? Then it's going to be like a piece of artwork that people can look at and see all the crazy things I did in my life. It's expressing me. This one's quite depressing (points to a tattoo of an eye on her inner forearm; see photo gallery above). This is a crying eye for all the sadness and poo that I've been through already at the age of 18. And trust me, it's been crazy--like learning the strange things about life, when people pass away. You have to adapt to things that you've never been through before. And then having the kind of life where you can do anything you want, 'cause you're just the average Joe, to being pushed in front of a bunch of cameras. I haven't adapted to it yet, and I never will. And I don't want to adapt to it, either. Laughs I'm like, "Yeah, whatever!" — Lloyd talking about one of her tattoos Artistry Musical style and voice Her music is generally R&B; however, her music has a feature of hip hop, dubstep, electronic, electropop, synthpop, bubblegum pop, pop and dance-pop in some of her songs. Lloyd sings in the soprano range. I was singing before I could talk, literally. I listened to a lot of country music laughs. All Dolly Parton. I want to meet her just to say thank you. — Lloyd talking about one of her music influences Influences Lloyd revealed in an interview that she is a fan of Dolly Parton. Lloyd was inspired by American rapper Nicki Minaj, who she said "changed pop music," adding that "no one was doing what she was doing, and then she came in and it was kind of one of those things where people were like, 'Whoa! She just changed pop music.' And she did! There's no denying it." Filmography Television Year Title Role Notes 2010 The X Factor Contestant UK version 2011 The X Factor Performer UK version 2012 Make Your Mark: Shake It Up Dance Off Herself/Judge Disney Channel 2012 The X Factor U.S. Performer US version 2013 Big Time Rush Herself "Big Time Scandal" Discography Main article: Cher Lloyd discography Sticks and Stones (2011) Sorry I'm Late (2014) Tours Headlining Sticks and Stones Tour (2012) I Wish Tour (2013) Supporting X Factor Tour 2011 Whatever World Tour (Hot Chelle Rae) Red Tour (Taylor Swift) Neon Lights Tour (Demi Lovato) Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result 2011 UK Music Video Awards The People's Choice Award "Swagger Jagger" Nominated 2013 Radio Disney Music Awards She's The One – Best Female Artist Cher Lloyd Funniest Celebrity Take How To Audition – Cher Lloyd Hit The Road – Best Break Up Song "Want U Back" The Bestest – Song Of The Year MTV Europe Music Awards Artist on the Rise Cher Lloyd 2014 Teen Choice Awards Breakup Song "Really Don't Care" (ft Demi Lovato) Choice Summer Song Won Young Hollywood Awards Song of the summer/ Dj replay Nominated MTV Video Music Awards Best Lyric Video 2015 Radio Disney Music Awards Hit The Road - Best Breakup Song Musical Mashup - Best Collaboration Won Category:Women's music Category:1993 births